Pages

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

First Month of My Insulin Pump Break

A month ago, I decided to step away from my Medtronic insulin pump.

This was long overdue, a needed change that I needed to revisit in order to get my diabetes back in line. Yet, I had been putting this off and it wasn't until Medtronic's business decision to screw with patient choice and access that I made the final personal decision to disconnect from my pump and go back on injections like I've done a few times in the past. My first pump vacation lasted for about five months in 2010, and led to a 1.1% drop in my A1C. The later vacations also saw smaller drops, but still they helped me re-focus on D-management.

And so, that's what I set out to achieve in the here and now.

After my first month of this #PumpHiatus, my BGs have been phenomenal compared to how they were before.

Glucose variability is hella better, and my A1C dropped from 8.4% in February to 7.6% in early June! This was also down from my A1C last Fall where it rang in at 9.1 -- so progress continues, and I'm very happy.

My endo is happy, too.

Here's what my D-data shows:

(Enter first air-pumping here!)

A few specific reasons are behind the improvements, I believe.

Discipline: Whenever I mix up my management routine, I tend to do better. So going back on MDI has motivated me to pay closer attention to all aspects of my D-care, from insulin dosing and carb counting to exercise effect and so on. Whenever it comes down to eating something, I must weigh whether I want to dose insulin for it -- and that more often than not has made me second-guess the desire to eat at that time.

Low(er) Carb Eating: Yes, I have been watching the carbs and taking in fewer of them. Instead of a sandwich for lunch, an avocado with chicken or tuna salad. More veggies instead of rice or pasta. More fish and meat, and even less beer (WTF?!) that's sweeter and more carb-heavy. This has meant less glucose variability, a pretty certain consequence of carbs for me. As a result

Afrezza: Yep, I'm back on inhaled insulin. For close to a month, I've been using Afrezza and am LOVING the blood sugar effect it's
helped me achieve so far. I'd tried it out last Fall for a few weeks, but decided
that it wasn't something I wanted to continue using because of
long-term concerns about potential lung effects. But none of that's
known for sure, and so I was willing to try Afrezza again once going on
my pump break.
I've been using it for higher carb meals and
larger corrections, keeping Novolog pens as my "base fast-acting insulin" used for smaller doses
and meals that are more predictable. This works the best for me, instead of
using Afrezza 100% of the time. I still have some reservations (possibly paranoia??) about long-term effects, and so I am not going full force with Afrezza. For me, I'm also pretty confident in my ability to improve even more and get to a better place as having Afrezza in my D-toolbox along with other insulins, my CGM and everything else.

For the first few weeks, I was actually fortunate to snag some samples to use and didn't have to buy it myself in the beginning. Now, those samples are gone and I'm going through the process of getting insurance approval for Afrezza ASAP, so I can weave this into my routine again.

Overall, I've not calculated how much less insulin I am taking but that's a work in progress and I'll start doing that D-match for summary sake before long.

I've just recently started using my Dexcom more fully, taking advantage of the "Events" feature that allows me to chronicle insulin doses, carbs, exercise, Lows, Highs, Alcohol, and Stress.

And no app is needed for insulin dosing, for me. I just do the math -- that's easier for me. If I am 200 and need to correct to get back to my preferred 100 level, it's a simple equation using my correction factor of 25 points per unit of insulin:

200-100 = 100....

/ 25 = = 4 units.

Typically, my insulin's still kicking for about three hours so any additional correction doses during that time would be scaled back significantly, depending on the exact timing.

So, things are going well.

My next A1C is slated for mid-August -- a time my endo and I chose specifically because it will be a good follow-up to see how my A1C fairs for a full three-months of this #PumpHiatus.

As of now, taking a step away from my pump was the best decision I could've made for my D-management at this point. I'm eager to see what the next couple months bring.

I really enjoyed reading your articles. I found this as an informative and interesting post, so i think it is very useful and knowledgeable. I would like to thank you for the effort you have made in writing.

I talk about with my family on Insulin in light of the fact that due to ED and PE men's and Sexual health care specialist propose me to take Insulin.I am simply googling about things,and I came to think about you.

But even if you had a good [URL=http://www.ozguaranteedloan.com]payday loans[/URL] financial profile, the system doesn’t guarantee you the loan and if you are lucky to get one, you need [URL=http://oz-paydayloans.com]payday loan[/URL] to be patient.

I am in the medical education department and we are organizing an event about the awareness of Diabetes. We will share the experience of drugs effects like Generic Viagra online with the people. It is possible to beat ED in the early age caused by diabetes.

We are the health expert team doing the health care service in a positive way around the USA, and also we making several awareness program in several places in the USA, We also giving suggestion cheap generic viagra pills for the ED problem. We are testing and gives the report about the generic medicines.

Sildenafil citrate offers help to this atom by bringing down the evil movement of PDE5 catalysts that controls male erection. Henceforth, muscles and supply routes unwind, letting the man to appreciate a hard on for quite a while. Thanks and RegardsBuy Generic Viagra Online

We are fully aware about the nitty gritties of what it takes to take the website to the top ranking. We are an experienced team of professionals consisting of experienced and qualified SEO Outsourcing, digital marketers

I’m from the medical industry and we are providing the health care service in a great manner and also sharing the knowledge of health. We also offer Generic Levitra tablet at a cheap rate for the ED issue in men which is caused by diabetes. And these tablets are result oriented and FDA approved.

Having said that, we have a greater amount of web based business inclines that are to hold influence in the expected years. Before we get into the real point let us skim through couple of variables of eCommerce that are as of now pushing their way up. Those truths are, As a result of these we re known as a standout amongst the search engine optimization agency india

In the crowd of predatory lenders, it is very crucial to know about the lenders who practice legit loans in USA without considering consumers' bad credit. Thanks to federal consumer protection bureau to regulate legit lenders.

Your Corner Booth Host

Mike Hoskins

Who Am I?

Just a guy in his 40s, who's been living with Type 1 diabetes since the age of five. A husband, friend, dog owner, journalist, writer, history lover, movie buff, Sigma Pi Man, and huge fan of Coffee & Conversation.

Southeast Michigan Adult D-Community

The Indy Adult D-Community!

In Search Of....

In My Corner Booth

My Diabetes Life

I'm spending most of my time these days writing about diabetes over atDiabetesMine... I'm very proud of the diabetes journalism work there, so make sure to go check out that "diabetes newspaper with a personal twist." Meanwhile, it's fun keeping tabs on my personal life adventures here at The Corner Booth.

Comment Policy

This is my personal comment policy. While I love hearing from everyone and welcome your thoughts and discussion, I only ask for everyone to extend each other courtesy during that commenting. Please leave the personal or negative attacks on another screen somewhere. I love debates and disagreement is certainly welcome, but let’s keep it civil and respectful. On top of that, I’ve recently been thinking about privacy rights that commenters may or may not have. This is tricky and uncharted legal water, but some recent court rulings nationally have raised questions about this. Some news and media sites online have been sued for defamation or been brought into lawsuits because of anonymous comments posted, and have been required to turn over IP addresses and information to determine those commenters' true identities. While this in no way applies to personal blogs at this point, I want to avoid potential issues down the road. So, please know that there is NO EXPECTATION of privacy if you leave a comment, even anonymously. If a court ever orders me to do so, I'll follow the law and that order despite whatever my personal beliefs are on privacy. Thanks for your understanding, and your continued participation here!